Ben Eaves

For the British basketball player, see Ben Eaves (basketball).

Ben Eaves
Born	(1982-03-27) March 27, 1982 Minneapolis, MN, USA
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	179 lb (81 kg; 12 st 11 lb)
Position	Center
Played for	WBS Penguins Espoo Blues Milwaukee Admirals Jokerit
NHL draft	131st overall, 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career	2004–2013

Benjamin Coel Eaves (born March 27, 1982) is an American retired professional ice hockey Center. He is the son of retired NHL player Mike Eaves, and brother of Patrick Eaves of the Dallas Stars.

Playing career

Eaves went to high school at Shattuck-St. Mary's school in Faribault, Minnesota. Eaves was drafted 131st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He spent four seasons at Boston College before turning pro in 2004. He signed an entry-level contract with the Penguins, but with the 2004–05 NHL season locked out and eventually cancelled, he split the season with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers. He missed majority of 2005–06 season and entire 2006–07 season recovering from knee injuries.

In November 2007 he signed for the Espoo Blues in SM-liiga where he played rest of the season, although missing majority of it due to several injuries. He continued in the team for the following season. On 13 December 2008 he took a break due to injury, he made his comeback on 28 January 2009.

During the SM-liiga playoffs 2009 Ben Eaves broke the record of Kari Jalonen (season 1980/81) and Hannes Hyvönen (2007/08) for the most points scored during the playoffs (21 points). Eaves managed to score 24 points (4 goals and 20 assists) in 13 games with the Espoo Blues.

On July 21, 2009, Eaves signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Nashville Predators. On November 2, 2009 Eaves left the Predators' AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals and announced his retirement from hockey due to a lingering knee injury.

In the following season, however, he came out of retirement and joined Jokerit of Finnish SM-liiga in August 2010. In his return to Finland, Eaves successfully established himself amongst Jokerit's scoring forwards. He was selected as the MVP of the European trophy tournament of the 2011–12 season. In his third season with Jokerit, Eaves was again plagued by injury, suffering a concussion before briefly returning for the playoffs.

In preparation for the 2013–14 season with Jokerit, Eaves suffered a relapse of concussion symptoms and on August 16, 2013, announced his retirement from professional hockey for a second time.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000–01	Boston College	HE		41	13	26	39	12		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Boston College	HE		23	13	26	39	12		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Boston College	HE		36	18	39	57	18		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Boston College	HE		26	9	25	34	4		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		43	4	6	10	12		7	0	0	0	0
2004–05	Wheeling Nailers	ECHL		2	1	0	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		5	1	2	3	0		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Espoo Blues	SM-l		10	3	4	7	4		13	7	5	12	8
2008–09	Espoo Blues	SM-l		22	3	15	18	18		14	4	20	24	6
2009–10	Milwaukee Admirals	AHL		7	1	2	3	4		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Jokerit	SM-l		44	9	17	26	30		7	1	5	6	10
2011–12	Jokerit	SM-l		44	13	21	34	22		7	0	3	3	2
2012–13	Jokerit	SM-l		9	2	1	3	4		1	1	0	1	2
AHL totals				55	6	10	16	16		7	0	0	0	0
SM-liiga totals				130	30	58	88	78		42	13	33	46	28

Awards and honors

Award	Year
All-Hockey East Rookie Team	2000–01
All-Hockey East Second Team	2001–02
AHCA East Second-Team All-American	2001–02
All-Hockey East First Team	2002–03
AHCA East First-Team All-American	2002–03

External links

• Ben Eaves career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Ben Eaves's Player profile at Elite Prospects